


at this time, in this place

by braigwen_s



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Havelock Vetinari Is Gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:35:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26873785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/braigwen_s/pseuds/braigwen_s
Summary: Altering a few words, a lot of the final conversation in the graveyard in Night Watch can ... sure be read a certain way.  This is just cut-and-pasted chunks from that scene with two words changed.  Anyway, Vetinari is gay and Vimes is bi and there is no way this is up for dispute.  For me that scene is a gay man speaking to a closeted bi man, and I can't interpret it otherwise.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	at this time, in this place

'You know,' said Lord Vetinari, after a few moments, 'it has often crossed my mind that those men deserve a proper memorial of some sort.'  
  
'Oh yes?' said Vimes, in a non-committal voice. His heart was still pounding. 'In one of the main squares, perhaps?'  
  
'Yes, that would be a good idea.'  
  
'Perhaps a tableau in bronze?' said Vimes sarcastically. 'All seven of them raising the flag, perhaps?'  
  
'Bronze, yes,' said Vetinari. 'Really? And some son of inspiring slogan?' said Vimes. 'Yes, indeed. Something like, perhaps, “They Did The Job They Had To Do”?'

'No,' said Vimes, coming to a halt under a lamp by the crypt entrance. 'How dare you? How dare you! At this time! In this place! They did the job they didn't have to do, and they died doing it, and you can't give them anything. Do you understand? They fought for those who'd been abandoned, they fought for one another, and they were betrayed. Men like them always are. What good would a statue be? It'd just inspire new fools to believe they're going to be heroes. They wouldn't want that. Just let them be. For ever.'

They walked in heavy silence, and then Vetinari said, as if there had been no outburst: 'Happily, it appears that the new deacon at the temple here has suddenly heard the call.'  
  
'What call?' said Vimes, his heart still racing.  
  
'I'm never very good at religious matters, but apparently he was filled with a burning desire to spread the good word to the benighted heathen,' said Vetinari.

'Where?'

\---

'As one man to another, commander, I must ask you: did you ever wonder why I wore the rainbow?'  
  
'Yeah. I wondered,' said Vimes. 'But you never asked.'

'No. I never asked,' said Vimes shortly. 'It's a spectrum of color. Anyone can wear a spectrum of color.'  
  
'At this time? In this place?'  
  
'Tell me, then.'

\---

'An inspired guess, commander! Yes. I have an eye for the . . . unique. But now I was fighting time. The streets were blocked. Chaos and confusion were everywhere, and it wasn't as if I even knew where he could be found. In the end I took to the rooftops. And thus I came at last to Cable Street, where there was a different sort of confusion.'  
  
'Tell me what you saw,' said Vimes.

\---

'Really,' said Vimes.

'I joined the fight. I snatched up a rainbow pennant from a fallen man and, I have to say, held it in my mouth. I'd like to think I made some difference; I certainly killed four men, although I take no particular pride in that. They were thugs, bullies. No real skill. Besides, their leader had apparently fled, and what morale they had had gone with him.  
  
“The men with the rainbow, I have to say, fought like tigers. Not skilfully, I'll admit, but when they saw that their leader was down they took the other side to pieces. Astonishing.'

\---

'So I put it down as half a mystery and today . . . sergeant ... we find the other half of a mystery.'

\---  
  
'Where is this leading?' Vimes demanded.

'Nowhere, commander. What could I prove? And to what end would I prove it?'  
  
'Then I'm saying nothing.'  
  
'I cannot imagine what you could say,' said Vetinari. 'No. I agree. Let us leave the dead alone. But for you, commander, as a little gift on the occasion of the birth of-'  
  
'There's nothing I want,' said Vimes quickly. 'You can't promote me any further. There's nothing left to bribe me with. I've got more than I deserve. The Watch is working well. We don't even need a new bloody dartboard-'  
  
'In memory of the late John Keel-' Vetinari began.

'I warned you-'  
  
'-I can give you back Treacle Mine Road.'

Only the high-pitched squeak of bats, hunting around the poplars, broke the silence that followed. 

\---

'I can see you like the sound of it already,' said Vetinari. 'And if you care to come along to my office tomorrow we can settle the-'  
  
\---  
  
'Well, then,' said Vetinari, 'afterwards we could-'  
  
'Afterwards I'm going home to my family for a while,' said Vimes.

'Good! Well said,' said Vetinari, not missing a beat.


End file.
